Knight placed two spots ahead of Harrison Barnes, the North Carolina rookie who has yet to play an NBA game, and two spots behind ex-Piston Carlos Delfino.

Knight moved up from the No. 267 spot he shared last year with Kemba Walker, his college rival when Knight's Kentucky team lost to Walker's Connecticut team in the 2011 NCAA title game. Walker, now of the Charlotte Bobcats, ranked 199th this year.

ESPN.com polled 104 experts to rank players on a 1-10 scale in terms of "the current quality of each player," according to the website.

Knight scored 4.58.

That was the fourth-highest score on the Pistons' roster. Rankings for Greg Monroe, Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince have not been disclosed with 160 spots remaining. Last year, those players placed 132nd, 108th and 105th, respectively.